Tesla may seek to double size of Gigafactory in Nevada

When work began on the Tesla Gigafactory in January, the Sparks, Nev., facility was proposed to total 10 million sf. The new plan makes the original vision almost cutesy.

Treehugger reports that Tesla Motors purchased an additional 1,200 acres next to the Gigafactory and is looking to buy an additional 350 acres.

If Tesla continues to make the plant larger, it will go from four blocks to seven blocks and could make the Gigafactory between 17.5 million and 24 million sf. At the high end of that estimate, the Gigafactory would be the world's largest building based on footprint.

At an initial cost of $5 billion, the Gigafactory's goal is to make 50 gigawatt-hours of lithium-ion batteries, or as many as 500,000 batteries, for electric cars by 2020. Tesla is building the plant to provide batteries for the Model 3 car, which will be in production in late 2017 or early 2018. A few other models, such as Tesla’s Model S and Model X SUV, will also have batteries produced there.

Tesla received the land for free from Nevada last September and also was granted $1.3 billion in tax breaks. The first construction phase of the factory—a 900,000-sf facility—is nearly completed and is on track to start equipment installation later this year and battery production in 2016.

While green data centers will continue to be a trend within the industry, technology is also driving infrastructure upgrades that have never been seen before, according to the 2011 Data Center Technical Market Report from Environmental Systems Design. The report also includes an overview of the national data center market, construction costs, blackouts and disaster prevention, and site selection.

| Jan 4, 2011

Grubb & Ellis predicts commercial real estate recovery

Grubb & Ellis Company, a leading real estate services and investment firm, released its 2011 Real Estate Forecast, which foresees the start of a slow recovery in the leasing market for all property types in the coming year.

| Nov 29, 2010

Data Centers: Keeping Energy, Security in Check

Power consumption for data centers doubled from 2000 and 2006, and it is anticipated to double again by 2011, making these mission-critical facilities the nation’s largest commercial user of electric power. Major technology companies, notably Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems, and International Business Machines, are investing heavily in new data centers. HP, which acquired technology services provider EDS in 2008, announced in June that it would be closing many of its older data centers and would be building new, more highly optimized centers around the world.

| Nov 3, 2010

Public works complex gets eco-friendly addition

The renovation and expansion of the public works operations facility in Wilmette, Ill., including a 5,000-sf addition that houses administrative and engineering offices, locker rooms, and a lunch room/meeting room, is seeking LEED Gold certification.

| Oct 12, 2010

The Watch Factory, Waltham, Mass.

27th Annual Reconstruction Awards — Gold Award. When the Boston Watch Company opened its factory in 1854 on the banks of the Charles River in Waltham, Mass., the area was far enough away from the dust, dirt, and grime of Boston to safely assemble delicate watch parts.

| Oct 12, 2010

Building 13 Naval Station, Great Lakes, Ill.

27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Gold Award. Designed by Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt and constructed in 1903, Building 13 is one of 39 structures within the Great Lakes Historic District at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill.